Dear Ziva
by DearSweetPapercut
Summary: First fan fic! Hope you like it, Serial killer becomes obsessed with Ziva. Rated T just to be safe!
1. Chapter 1

First fan fic... hope you like it

Finally had time, now I've gone through and fixed all the typing errors!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the characters

**Dear Ziva- Part 1**

The squad room was bustling with people rushing around with files while spouting jargon on their phones. It was an usual office scene with desks covered in paperwork, computers buzzing away and people oblivious to the world. It was a normal day at NCIS headquarters. There is the sound of the elevator alerting passersby that the large metallic doors were about to slide open and to allow a flood of people to join them in their meaningful wanderings around the office. Ziva and Tony both stepped out at the same time with coffee-to-go clutched in their hands.

"Did you know McGeek had a date last night? How is it that someone like McGee can get a date and I haven't been out in a month?" he exclaimed with a slight hint of worry. He stopped quickly checking his reflection in the window and fixing his hair. Ziva was walking a couple of paces ahead of his considering answers to his question; she smiled to herself, a smile that soon became a smirk.

"I did know. And there is a very simple reason why..." she let the sentence trail off looking at Tony from under her dark lashes. She swung her hips around effortlessly falling into the seat at her desk.

"Why?" Tony demanded sounding like a child pushing a parent's limits. The paranoid look on his face gave Ziva satisfaction; she knew that he'd be thinking about it all day. McGee walked past them both with a telling smile Tony quickly shot Ziva a look before turning to McGee.

"So how was your night probie?" he said with a hint of jealousy that was obvious to everyone. Looking past Tony he caught Ziva's eye egging him on.

"It was nice, thank you for asking." He said while loading up his computer.

"Nice was it? What's her name?" Tony pushed for information. He's impatience had got the better of him, and having started off suggestively his tone became demanding.

"Not telling you." McGee continued working without looking up.

"Ah good you're all here, I want to introduced you to someone." Ducky appeared from the elevator followed by a young woman. "This is Beau, I meet her father back in the Oxford days. This is Tony and Ziva, and obviously you already know Timothy." Beau held her hand out for Ziva and then Tony smiling politely.

"Ah Tim, always a pleasure. Thank you for a wonderful evening." She made her way towards McGee's desk, shook his hand and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"Beau is a forensic psychologist, she's finishing up university here. Thought she could give me a hand if ever one was needed. There is a desk on the end, hope you're brought work with you dear." Ducky remarked.

"I have Hitler and Stalin: parallel lives to keep me company Duck. And I have the reverting case files for my dissertation, I'm doing a study on forensic profiling in federal investigations." She told McGee while pacing files down on the desk next to him. You're probably not surprised to know feds aren't too keen on working with psychologists."

"Really?" McGee asked, his voiced sounded slightly too enthusiastic setting of silent alarms for both Tony and Ziva.

"Grab your gear." Gibbs walked through the crowd of people ignoring what was going on. The team grabbed their bags and began to move out.

"Beau I think it'd be best if you stayed here." Ducky hurriedly instructed.

The crime scene was woods that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The ground was still damp with the pervious night's rainfall; there was the smell of fresh morning air lingering but in the most melancholy sense. A woman's body had been wrapped in plastic and laid almost carefully under a tree with a careful x carved into the bark. Tony carefully watched McGee waiting for the right moment to ask about his "date".

"So where did you take her probie?" Tony asked approaching McGee slowly. Tim looked uncomfortable but refused to give in to Tony's mocking. "Did you probe her probie?" he said while smirking

"NO" McGee responded quicker than expected catching Ziva's attention.

"That was a quick denial." Ziva said raising her eye brows while carefully finding a clearing on the ground to place her foot down.

"I didn't sleep with her okay, Ducky told me she was visiting yesterday and that he had to go to meet someone and he thought it'd be nice for her to see the city. So he asked me to take her out." He sighed hoping his explanation would be enough for his co workers. Ziva patted him on the head and made a pouty face before laughing.

"McGee is like a woman when it comes to navigating, how did he show her around the city?" Tony stated boldly staring into the distance. But McGee and Ziva stopped what they were doing and looked up.

"I am a woman. I can navigate." Ziva said narrowing her eyes in a warning way.

"Ah my ninja but you're like a Mossad Hunting dog. But the more important question, why didn't Ducky ask me to take her out?" he said looking wide eyed and baffled. "I would have taken her to see _all _the sights…if you get my drift." He giggled winking and Ziva.

"Do you really need to ask Tony? I think that is exactly why Ducky didn't ask you, she's a nice girl." He said sighing.

"So you didn't take her home for coffee?" Tony continued.

"Why do people drink coffee so late? I prefer tea in the evenings." Ziva said looking slightly confused.

"Coffee means sex." Tony said without giving it a second thought.

"Remind me never to ask you to get me coffee DiNozzo." Gibbs appeared behind them. "What are you waiting for, an invitation? Get to work!" Tony's expression changed within seconds.

"On it boss." Tony muttered moving away slightly embarrassed. The team began looking around the site for any evidence they could find.

"Boss! Ziva!" Tony called out. His expression had fallen. In his hand was an envelope with neat blue ink on the front, "Ziva David" it read


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry this going a bit slow, but creating background before it catches pace! Hope you like it :)

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the characters

**Dear Ziva….Part 2**

Ziva opened the envelope carefully and unfolded the paper inside.

"Dear Ziva, I'm sorry. That's all it says." Ziva read, she looked incredibly uncomfortable, she could feel Tony's arm reach out and touch her shoulder. Her automatic reflexes for some reason had been dimmed as she felt slightly disorientated.

"The cause of death appears to be blunt force trauma to the back of the head, there is bruising on her wrists and ankles suggesting that she'd been tied at some point." Ducky appeared behind Tony making him jump ever so slightly. Everyone looked worried and uncomfortable as they began packing up to head back to headquarters.

They sat silently at their desks while the letter, or rather line, that been written to Ziva were up on the screen for them all to see. Beau stood in the middle of the room reading and re-reading the single line.

"Why would he write it? I mean why handwriting?" she furrowed her eyebrows. "Why give you something you can use to identify him with?" McGee stood up from his desk and strolled over to stand next to Beau. "It's a message he's tell you that he's more intelligent that you are. He can get away with using handwriting." She continued turning to McGee. Again people were wandering about getting on with their work and it seemed almost normal for them to be having this conversation.

"How do you know?" McGee asked.

"This..." she said indicating to the letter "suggests narscrassistic personality disorder. He wants attention. That's why he's written to Ziva, he wants a reaction...sorry it's not my place..." she said when she caught Gibbs eye, as he glared at her.

"Talk" he said in his usual gruff manner while sitting down at his desk.

"The way he's writing, the hand writing is on blank paper, straight lines, evenly, almost exactly spaced out suggests signs on obsessive disorder. Each letter is written carefully making sure he's clear, it's easy to read. He doesn't want anything to be distracting from himself." She explained making eye contact with everyone as she spoke.

"Why is he writing to Ziva?" Tony asked.

"I can't be sure...perhaps she reminds him of her...someone he wants or once had and lost."

Gibbs stood up "Going to see Ducky, you come with me." He indicated to Beau to follow him and they both got into the lift together.

Tony, Ziva and McGee looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Think he'll make her cry?" Tony asked. Ziva and McGee pondered the thought a second McGee replied "no" while Ziva replied "yes" at the same time.

The lift seemed to be taking an unusually long time as they both stood in silence. Gibbs watched the ceiling while Beau watched her feet. "So who are you?" he asked bluntly.

"My father is friends with Ducky, I'm a forensic psychologist, I'm doing my dissertation on forensic profiling in federal investigations." She said calmly with a slightly uninterested tone. "If you want me to back off, and observe I can do." She added knowing full well she was walking on thin ice with this man. He had a blank, almost unreadable expression a lot of the time but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. Beau had to stop herself from beginning to analyse him.

"Just don't get in my way." He didn't know what to say to her. To the relief of them both the lift doors opened. Ducky stood beside the body in wait for Gibb's arrival.

"Ah Gibbs...and Beau...what a nice surprise. There is no question about it but she was raped before she was killed. My initial examinations were right she was killed by a blunt force trauma to the back of the head most likely a block of wood; I've sent the samples I retrieved up to Abby. There doesn't seem to be much more I can tell you the killer did a good job cleaning everything up and removing any traces or evidence."

"Fits a profile, almost perfectly, it's all about control to him, something he's probably not getting in his real life so he's taking it out like this." Beau said quietly. Physically being present in these situations was nothing like a textbook or a lecture and most find out the hard way, she thought to herself.

"Do you have any id Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"I sent the finger prints up to Abby too."

"Thanks Ducky." With that Gibbs moved out. Beau followed throwing Ducky a rather helpless look over her shoulder as she went he just gave her a smile of reassurance in return.

They stopped at the squad room and the team looked up to see if there were any obvious signs of upset but everything seemed to be fine.

Abby's lab was filled with music and the sound of machines at work as always. Gibbs handed her a caf-pow and waited for Abby to start talking.

"Thank you Gibbs, well I ran our victim's finger prints through affis and I got a match, she's Luteniant Stacey Dunham. She went missing two weeks ago. But the weird thing is I've checked her clothes and personal effects but there is nothing, not trace of them having been anywhere before they were wrapped in plastic. But I ran a check on the splinters found in her head wound and found a mix of chemicals and oil, suggesting that the weapon was picked up from an industrial park. My theory is that her body was moved."

"Good work Abs." Gibbs said as he turned around, the team all gravitated after him "McGee find that industrial park, take Ziva with you. Tony track Dunham's last recorded movements before she went missing."

"On it boss." Tony replied while they flooded out of the elevator.

In the squad room Beau was standing in front of a white board with a marker in her hand and a puzzling expression. She was pulling the lid of the pen and replacing it using her thumb and index finger.

"It doesn't make sense." She muttered.

"What?" Ziva asked looking at the white board trying to see what Beau was seeing.

"Well...there is pattern in behaviour of people like this...they want something...something specific, like dominance, power or revenge...this seems to be suggesting a relationship...someone that didn't have a proper attachment as a child and has never had a relationship as an adult...he thinks this is a relationship...why would he kill her?"

"It is Whitehall Industrial Park boss!" McGee called out. Ziva nodded a goodbye and left with McGee.

"McGee, if you'd let me drive we would have gotten here much quicker." Ziva stated as she slammed the passenger seat door shut.

"I'm sorry Ziva but it would have been useless if we'd died on the way here." He said shortly. Neither of them was in the mood to argue today, the events unravelling before them were disturbing making them feel uncomfortable.

They started in the car park, there seemed to be nothing but grey. They walked around the large building which seemed to be surprisingly silent for an industrial building in the middle of the day. There was the eerie silence about that made Ziva shiver. The feeling that something wasn't quite right was consuming both of them as they walked.

"McGee!" Ziva called out having identified another body. The same as before the body was wrapped up in plastic left above a carefully marked X and with a letter addressed to Ziva cello taped near it. Ziva pulled out her phone and ferociously dialled Gibbs's phone number. "We've got another one."


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you all so much for the reviews it really means lot!

More to come!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the characters

**Dear Ziva...Part 3**

The team sat at their desks while Tony pulled up CCTV clips.

"Here are both our victims, I've been trying to find links between them both, both in the same regiment, both when to the same bar before they disappeared. And I noticed this." Clicking, he zoomed in to the images of two women. "Both of them were wearing jewellery before, this was not found amongst the personal effects. Also noticed that this car was there at both crimes scenes, it arrived at the same time as them and left at the same time. I've tried to lighten the photo to get an ID but no such luck." He sighed turning to the team.

"Put a BOLO out." Directed Gibbs.

"All read done it boss, no hits so far." Tony nodded jumping off the table where he was perched he watched Ziva as she sat at her desk. She'd intently listened to him but had not said a word, he found himself doing this often trying to understand what was beyond those dark eyes. There was so much, there had to be, all of those things she didn't talk about, all of those things she ignored. Tony knew that she wouldn't talk about it; no matter how much he pushed her.

"The jewellery it's a trophy, he wants something to remind him, memories become less vivid over time. He wants something that will take him right back there, remind him. What does the letter say?" Beau asked.

Dear Ziva,

I'm sorry it had to be this way...but I'm sure you'll understand. We love each other, you'll understand.

"You'll have met him. This suggests, he thinks you're in a relationship with you, you might have bumped into him in the street or you could see him regularly at a coffee shop, post man someone who lives near you. You might not remember him."

Gibbs's phone rang startling everyone while they churned over the information they had.

"On my way Abs."

"I was having a look at the spray paint, turns out it's not spray paint, it's paint, car paint, usually used to cover up tarnishes. I had to get some this weekend, I drove my car into a tree, well backed it...and it took me ages to get the right colour, because apparently the manufactures don't stock it anymo-"

"Abs!" Gibbs stopped her as he usually did from tying herself up in knots with all the words that were flooding out of her mouth.

"Well...right yes...i complied a list of the shops that sell this particular colour, and I found an endless number but when I broke down the chemical compound I found Copolymer Acrylic Copolymer, I only found one company that used that chemical. I managed to narrow it down to one car dealership."

"Good work Abs." Gibbs kissed her on the side of her cheek and handed her a caf-pow. Abby sighed in relief of managing to get all the information out in such a small amount of time and smiled at her caf-pow.

"Grab your gear!" Gibbs called out. The team grabbed their gear and moved out.

The mechanic sat on a small stool in the midday sun, a sandwich in his hands. The heat beamed down as a drop of sweat rolled down the side of his red, tired face.

"NCIS!" Gibbs shouted. The man jumped, dropping his sandwich on to the dusty ground. He wiped his greasy hand on his overalls.

"Can I help you?" He asked standing up.

The team stood with their guns withdrawn he seemed terrified, with a look that resembled a look that resembled a deer in headlights on his face. Tony dropped his weapon to his side and pulled handcuffs out with one swift arm movement.

"Hey...wait...what have I done?" he protested. Ziva watched him carefully, trying to work out if she's ever seen him, but she'd drawn a blank.

The team searched the garage, or rather ransacked it. There was an A4 envelope with the name "Ziva" neatly written on it in the blue pen they had all begun to recognise. She felt a shiver swim down her spine; her voice got caught in her throat for a second.

"Gibbs." She called. Carefully opening the envelope she pulled out a handful of photos consisted of images of her buying tea on her way to work, her eating a cafe and browsing a book store. She unfolded the note next.

"Dear Ziva,

I miss you, you're so beautiful, I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to be close recently. I'll see you soon."

Ziva felt sick to her stomach as Gibbs stood in front of her reading the note and looking at the photos. She gave him a helpless look; he'd be the only one that would see how worried she really was.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you for the reviews it really means a lot!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the characters

**Dear Ziva...Part 4**

Gibbs stood leaning against the glass in the interrogation room, Barry Coles, the mechanic they had arrested earlier sat; his plump face was still red as when he was in the sun.

"Where were you on Tuesday the 15th around 10 pm?" he asked casually.

"I was at home." He said not looking up in the fear of turning to stone if he met Gibbs's eyes.

"Can anyone vouch for that?"

"No, I live on my own, what have I done exactly?"

"Well, at the moment we're looking at two cases of murder."

Behind the glass Beau shifted slightly with discomfort.

"Is he always so heavy handed?" she asked Tony and Ziva as they stood silent and still next to each other. They nodded in unison "I'll be back in a moment, there is something I want to check." Beau muttered almost to herself, disappearing out of the door.

Tony hadn't once taken his eyes off Ziva. He could spend hours watching her and still have no clue as to what was going through her mind. But her eyes told sad stories, ones he wished to know, to help him understand. So that he could understand.

"The first time we meet, Gibbs asked me to tail you, you knew I was following you. You knew exactly where I was...This guy has been following you for a while...you haven't noticed?" he prompted, trying to work out if what he had asked was a question at all.

"No. I haven't noticed...I should have known...I should have noticed..." she muttered, her tone was that of guilt. Tony took a step closer to her; he could almost hear her breathing.

"Ziva, it's not your fault." He touched her shoulder but she didn't respond, not even a flinch.

"Innocent women have died Tony..." she responded slowly, her sentence trailed of as she turned realising for the first time how close they were standing. She could smell his cologne, midnight jasmine, she made a guess. She could feel his breath on her cheek. She felt overwhelmed and dizzy all of a sudden. Tony stood, feet firmly on the ground watching her intently. She was scared, he could tell, but he also knew that she would never admit it.

"Do you know her?" Gibbs pulled out the photos of Ziva, dramatically placing each one in front of him.

"She's one of yours, saw her today, real pretty, where are these from?" he said.

"They are found in your desk drawer...you tell me." Gibbs stated blankly.

"I have no idea! I haven't seen her before today!" he shouted.

Beau returned to the observation room with McGee.

"It wasn't him." She blurted out.

"How do you know?" Tony asked raising his eye brow critically.

"Well...he doesn't fit the profile of the killer...this is someone pretending to be someone else. Someone who is so unhappy with their existence that they are projecting and using catharsis to get rid of these feelings. Also his hand writing doesn't match the killers. Ziva do you recognise him? Have you ever seen this man?"

Ziva shook her head. Beau smiled "I thought so. The killer is someone who hides their identity, this isn't this first taste of crime. Fraud and violent attacks are where it start. He'd be on someone's records somewhere."

"I ran Barry Coles, nothing but parking tickets." McGee chipped in over an overly enthusiastic Beau.

"So who is it? And how do we find them?" Tony said, he was starting to see why feds were resistant to working with psychologists. Beau sensed his hesitation and aggravation. She noted how close to Ziva he was standing. They made eye contact for a second and Tony's frustration grew, she knew exactly what he was thinking. Her job was to read people and understand them. All he wanted to do was to shout at her, tell her stop dissecting him like a patient.

"He's intelligent, but arrogant, he would have slipped up. The depressing thing about crimes like this the chances of catching the killer is increased by the more people that get hurt."

They sat silently in the squad room waiting to figure out what they needed to do. Because they all knew that they had to go something.

"Go home. Sleep. Come back with a new perspective." Gibbs shout at them and one key one they very slowly got up and began moving.

"Can I give you a lift?" McGee looked over at Beau as she packed away all of her files.

"That would be great, thank you." She smiled over at McGee. There was a hint of secrecy in her smile, and had Tony not being distracted he would have made a comment.

"Tony, go with Ziva, make sure she gets there safely. Keep an eye out." Gibbs instructed.

Tony watched Ziva as she carefully gathered her things avoiding his eye.

"You don't have to take me home I can look after myself. I'm fully capable of looking after myself." She said still avoiding his eye.

"Bosses orders." He said simply. He knew she resented being looked after but he also knew that she needed it no matter how much she refused to admit it.

They strolled together while the rain danced off the pavement. Ziva closed her eyes and took in the feeling of the night, and took a deep breath, there was a dusty smell of the rain on gravel. Tony gave Ziva a half hearted smile.

They climbed the stairs to Ziva's apartment. Her breath caught in her chest and as she grabbed Tony's arm she felt him stiffen next to her.

At the door of her apartment was a beautiful bunch of white lilies and a letter written neatly in blue ink addressed to Ziva.


	5. Chapter 5

:D

This has slowed down a bit, but I really wanted some Tony/Ziva interaction and a chance to see how Ziva was responding to it all. I don't think Tony fully understands the extent of Ziva's trust issues I'm not sure how you feel about that but anyway I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the characters

**Dear Ziva...Part 5**

"Get your stuff, you're staying at mine." Tony said in a tone that allowed no room for joking around. Ziva looked at him, her eyes wide, while delegating the offer.

"No." She said simply. She pulled her keys out her pocket and opened the door to her apartment stepping over the flowers. Tony sighed, he should have been able to guess what she was going to do. He picked up the flowers and note following her into the apartment.

Ziva had disappeared into the kitchen giving Tony time to take in the changes Ziva had made to the place. The walls had been painted a deep scarlet, photo frames were neatly placed on the walls and plants had appeared on the window sill. It was nice, but not Ziva, Tony thought to himself. She reappeared with a bottle of red wine.

"Fine I'll stay here then." He said gritting his teeth. Ziva did not say a word and pulled out two empty glasses from a cabinet and sitting herself down opposite Tony. She poured them both drinks and started drinking without a word.

"Like what you've done with the place." Tony commented, he shivered slightly as he realised the killer had been here.

"Thought the place could do with a slop of paint." Ziva said with a mild tone.

"It's lick." Tony corrected her taking a sip from his glass not taking his eyes of Ziva. He thought about ways of asking her about how she was feeling. "Want to talk?" he said finally.

"What is there to talk about?" she said meeting his eye but beginning to regret it. He was staring her down, his eyes trying to unravel her.

"Oh so much...Zee-vah. You can't keep everything bottled up all the time." he smiled in a melancholy way.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

"For you to trust me. To finally, after everything that has happened, to simply trust me." He stated simply. He handed her his empty glass. She filled it up and handed it back.

"I...I do.." she replied.

"Ari, Michael...you're father...I'm not like them Ziva, you've got to understand that." He said, he was frustrated with her, but he knew he couldn't push her. Her dark eyes suddenly widened and she flashed Tony a look of warning.

"Are you going to read the note?" he asked changing the subject not being able to bare the way Ziva was watching him. She looked at the flowers and the note that he had put on the coffee table and shook her head, "Not now. I think I'll go to sleep now." She informed him while getting up.

She came back into the room with blanket and pillow for Tony, and disappeared again leaving him on his own again. He stood up taking a step towards the walls looking closely at each photo Ziva had framed. There were ones of her, Ari and Tali as children and of places she'd visited over the years as he'd predicted. A wave of tiredness swept over him as he lied down on the sofa.

Tony tossed and turned in attempts to get comfortable but every time something would wake him. He'd given up on sleep and decided to just lie on his back and listen to Ziva's footsteps as she paced about her room. Restlessness was a curse however he was fully aware that they were both experiencing it for different reasons.

He got up and approached Ziva's door, not wanting to intrude he knocked but no answer came instead of waiting as he knew he should have done, he slowly opened the door. He knew how quick Ziva's reflexes were and did not want to be on the receiving end of her violence. She was sat in the middle of her bed, eyes closed, hair tied up and legs crossed as if meditating.

"What do you want?" she asked not opening her eyes.

"Can't sleep...want to watch a movie?" he asked, feeling uncomfortable it was as if she was watching him even with her eyes closed.

"Escapism, nice idea Tony." She smiled her eyes finally opening. "But I think not."

He sat himself down at the seat by her desk, and watched her, hoping that conversation would come to him. Ziva seemed calm, too calm, he didn't understand. "What are you thinking about?" he asked her.

"Trying to figure out who he is." She replied. "What he wants. What I have to do to make all of this stop."

"You don't have to do it on your own." Tony said he got up perching on the end of the bed near to Ziva. He reached his hand out placing it on hers, and as she had not responded he moved closer. She looked at him, her expression almost blank her eyes glistening with tears. He knew she'd never admit it; admit how she felt, how scared or worried she was. He had to play the guessing game.

Tony moved even closer pulling her into an embrace. She wrapped her arms around him; it had been so long since she'd felt this sense of closeness. Ziva let one single tear roll down her cheek but stopped herself from sobbing or crying further. Tony tugged at her waist pulling her towards the pillows on the bed so they could lie down.

"Shh, it'll be fine, just try to sleep. You can think about all of that tomorrow." He said in a low tone, almost whispering into her hair. "You're not on your own. I'm here, I'll help." He kept hold of her, running his fingers though her hair. She shut her eyes tight hoping that her tiredness would transform into sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey thank you all for reading and reviewing it means a lot to me.

Been a bit slow in posting this up, there has been so so so much happening, last 3 weeks of term and I'm rushed off my feet! So thank you for bearing with me!

Things are going to start unravelling in the next part, getting closer to the killer, or rather he's getting closer to them (specifically Ziva!).

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the characters

**Dear Ziva…Part 6 **

Tony slipped his shoulder out from under Ziva; she was snoring away contently. Tony smiled to himself as he pulled the covers around her shoulders. He had to call Gibbs he knew he did, but there was a part of him that wanted to resist. He pulled out his phone wandering into the living room and dialled Gibbs's number. There was a part of him that hoped that Gibbs wouldn't pick up.

"Gibbs." Came the answer, had it been anyone else the response would have been an enquiry of the time.

"Yeah, it's me, I'm at Ziva's, the killer's been here. He left a bunch of flowers and a note." Tony said wincing as he waited for a response.

"What are you still doing there?" Gibbs demanded to know

"Ziva is a sleep, I asked her to come with me, she wouldn't and you know what she's like….I know I should have made her...but…" Tony spoke in a low voice not wanting to wake Ziva.

"Ya' think DiNozzo? First thing tomorrow morning I want you both to report to me, and don't even think about being late." Gibbs hung up, infuriated by Tony, but he knew full well it would have been impossible to get Ziva to do something she didn't want to."

Tony put his phone down and made his way into Ziva's kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. The buzzing of the fridge hummed in his ear as she sat waiting for the kettle to boil. He thought about the note and considered what Ziva would do to him if he opened it.

The morning hadn't come soon enough for Tony he'd been sitting up waiting for Ziva to wake up. He'd thought about watching a film, but from looking through Ziva's film collection he felt slightly bemused at the lack of choice. "Take Ziva to get films" he made a mental note.

"Morning." Ziva muttered from her bedroom door, her tired eyes were half shut. Tony felt slightly relieved as he looked up to greet her.

The morning passed quietly as they went about a normal routine attempting not to get in each other's way.

In the squad room Gibbs stood waiting for Ziva and Tony, rule 12 he thought to himself. Both of them appeared tired eyed. In Ziva's arms were a bunch of flowers.

Ziva opened the envelope, and pulled out the note.

"It's a receipt, from a bar, House, it's my receipt….it's got something written on it Wes Hogas." Ziva said handing the receipt to Gibbs.

"McGee, run the name, find any trace of this guy, Tony take the flowers and receipt down to Abby." Gibbs ordered.

"What should I do?" Ziva asked. Gibbs looked at her and for a moment there was a hint of fatherly tenderness. "Find out what ever you can about the flower shop, take Tony, after he's back, to check it out."

"No hit's boss." McGee responded, looking up.

"Widen there search there must be someone somewhere who knows who this man is." Gibbs responded. Beau who had taken a seat beside McGee looked puzzled for a moment but there happened to be a slow realisation on her face.

"You're not going to find a match, it's an anagram, Guess who. He's taunting you." She said, not sure what reaction to expect. Gibbs glared at her, McGee gave him a look suggesting "it makes sense".

Tony and Ziva drove to the flower shop, it was a small building on a grotty street. They didn't know what to expect as they stepped inside, they were greeted by the fresh flowery smell. And an elderly woman in glasses stood at the counter.

"I'm special agent Anthony DiNozzo, this is agent Ziva David." He said startling the woman causing Ziva to glare at him.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yesterday, a large bunch of white lilies had been purchased from here we were wondering if you could help us identify who." Tony told her while Ziva looked around, the shop was a small and covered wall to wall with flowers and nothing else.

"Ah yes, white lilies, funeral flowers, sad occasion. I don't remember who purchased them off the top of my head." She said fretting about under the counter.

"That's a surprise." Tony muttered into Ziva's ear.

"But I have a CCTV tape, that might be useful." She pulled up a DVD handing it to Tony.

Ziva and Tony walked through the lift doors with the tape in their hand.

"The shop is run by a 70 year old woman called Betty Turner; she gave us the CCTV footage to identify who bought the flowers." Tony shouted.

As he went to open the DVD case a note fell out, written neatly in blue ink.

"Who is he Ziva?"


	7. Chapter 7

Hey sorry I didn't post this sooner, again week has been insanely busy.

Thanks for reading/reviewing, hope you're all well :)

**Dear Ziva...Part 7 **

"Ziva, do you have any idea, any little inkling, about what he's talking about?" Gibbs demanded.

"No, I don't ...I'm sorry...I really...I don't..." Ziva replied while collapsed into her chair. Why didn't she know? How could she not notice? It was as if Beau had read her mind, she came over placing her hand on Ziva's.

"I think I've got something boss." Tony said, while watching the screen. A scruffy looking man placed a bunch of lilies onto the counter, his face was coved by the hood he'd pulled down. Ziva stood up too quickly beginning to feel dizzy.

"It's too unclear to see who he is, but here..." Tony clicked pulling up an enlarged image. "What he's wearing underneath, looks like a uniform of some kind, this is the badge...some kind of bar or restaurant? Looks like it says House." Tony said.

"That is bar that both our victims were at on the nights of their murdered." McGee said. All of them looked at each other trying to work out why no one had mentioned or done anything about this before.

"McGee, you're with me, we're going to check out the bar, Ziva stay here, Tony stay with her...make sure she stay's here." Gibbs said fully aware that he was treating Ziva like a child but it was for her benefit even if she didn't realise that at the moment.

The inside of the building had a mellow air about it, dim lighting and metallic furniture. There was one bar man placing bottles of tequila on the bar.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" he said in a silky voice without looking up.

"Do you know these women?" Gibbs placed out photos of the two victims and one of Ziva. The barman stopped and looked up.

"Ziva, I've seen her before. Mind you, she was fairly drunk; I work the late shift usually. She'd been to a couple of bars beforehand." He laughed and continued working. "One of our barmen took a shine to her, if you know what I mean."

McGee looked at Gibbs waiting to see how Gibbs would react. He'd only ever seen Ziva slightly drunk once but she had not lost control in the slightest and had practically glassed a guy who'd tried to feel her up, nearly getting them kicked out.

"Where is he?" Gibbs demanded slamming his fist down. The bar man looked up realising that this must be serious.

"He's taken the week off, said he was going away with his girlfriend...here..." he scribbled something on a bit of paper and handed it to Gibbs. "That's his address and his number."

"Ziva! Ziva! Where are you going?" Tony said grabbing her arm. Ziva looked at him, a look that would have stopped him in his tracks any other day.

"Out. I need a break...from all of this.." she said, looking slightly helpless. Tony watched her, there was something inside him that just wanted to hold her but he knew she'd resist. He also knew she was not about to admit how she was feeling.

"I'll come with you." Tony responded.

"Please. Just a few minutes, I just need some space, I'll just stand outside." She asked she removed her arm from Tony's grip and moved away. Tony sighed following her into the lift.

"I'll wait at the door; take as long as you need." He said.

Gibbs and McGee pulled up at a dingy looking block of flats. They silently but quickly moved up the flight of stairs as there was no lift. For a moment they paused outside of the flat before Gibbs went shoulder first into the door opening it, gun in hand ready to shoot.

Inside there were a small, untidy living room. On the coffee table empty cans of beer and pizza boxes. The floor was covered in rubbish, scraps of paper, food wrappers and old news papers. The flat had a very distinct smell about it, cigarettes and stale beer. Gibbs and McGee separated as they methodically began to open the various doors to check for the owner.

"Boss!" McGee called from a room which appeared to be the office.

Around the desk were surveillance-type photos of Ziva were cello taped. Details of her movements had been recorded on scraps of paper which scattered the desk. Gibbs stood beside McGee taking in everything in front of them.

"Bag and tag everything, take his computer, do what you do, find out what he wants!" Gibbs ordered. He took out his phone and dialled Tony's number.

Tony stood by the door watching Ziva outside, she was pacing and every so often she would stop. His answered his phone, turning around for a second.

"We've found the killers apartment, bringing everything in now. Make sure Ziva doesn't move." Gibbs told him.

"Got it boss." Tony said hanging up and turning around to face the glass again. Ziva had disappeared from view.

Tony opened the door stepping out into the stickiness, he looked around, at the stop where Ziva had been standing but there was nothing. It was as if she'd disappeared into thin air.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you all for reading/ reviewing, as always, it means a lot. I'm having so much fun writing this!

This bit is focused on Ziva, where she is, who she's with etc. This part is one of the reasons this is rated T…

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the characters

**Dear Ziva….Part 8**

Ziva's heart was thumping against her chest, she tried to raise her hand to her temple but found her wrists had been bound as had her ankles. A gag had been placed in her mouth to muffle and prevent her from screaming. She looked around; her blurry vision came into focus she was laid out on the back seat of a car. In the front seat was a young man with pasty pale skin, and frantic looking eyes. He was breathing heavily muttering under his breath.

"I'm sorry, okay, I had to do it. I'm sorry." He repeated, he looked over his shoulder briefly to find Ziva's dark eyes watching him. A look came across his face, an expression she didn't fully understand, it was mellowed slightly. "We're almost there." he assured her. All of a sudden he turned pulling up to a stop. The passenger door by Ziva's feet opened and he began tugging at her legs to pull her out. He carried her over his shoulder, giving Ziva a couple of seconds to take in her surroundings. There were trees and a dirt track. He carried her into a small wooden lodge and placed her on a chair in the centre of the room. He tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I didn't want it to be like this." He said pacing up and down the length of the lodge. "I didn't want it to go this far." He took the gag out of her mouth and tossed it aside.

"You can stop it now." Ziva began, but the look he flashed her made her stop talking.

"But you…..Who is he Ziva? That man?" he asked, sounding almost pleading, he picked up a photo of Ziva and Tony from his desk and placed it on her lap. "Who is he?"

"He's just someone I work with."

"I thought you loved me…but I see you with him….do you love him?" he asked.

"No…I don't….I…I don't love him….he's just someone I work with." He wasn't just someone she worked with, he was someone she cared about. She wouldn't admit it but she cared deeply for Tony. They had been through a lot together, she tried him, but after Ari, Michael and her father she didn't trust herself to admit it. She's had enough of being hurt.

"You promise?" the man in front of her sounded like a hysterical child and she tried to place him in her memory. His face seemed familiar but she couldn't work out why.

But then it flashed before her, after a visit from her father. She'd just wanted to forget him and everything he had spoken to her about. She wanted to wash the memory of his existence away. She'd gone out, drunk more than she knew she should. He'd been there….

"I promise." She reassured him. He kneeled down in front of her so they were looking at each other eye to eye.

"Because I love you so much…" he mumbled. He embraced her, taking in the smell of her hair and perfume. She reminded him of her, she was just like her he thought.

Struggling she found that he only held on tighter, he picked her up moving on to a sofa untying her ankles. Out the corner of her eye she could see her knife, and her gun. The binding on her wrists was too tight but none the less she tried loosening it enough to slip her hands out but it didn't work

He kissed her, his finger tips finding the button on her trousers….

The feeling of him on her skin made her feel sick. He muttered apologetically into her ear while he moved inside of her.

She closed her eyes thinking about anything but what was happening, she thought about the team trying to work out where she was.


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you all a million and one times!

Hope you're all well and are enjoying the wonderful weather we're having (in England at least!), it finally feels like summer!

The end to our creepy friend! I hope you all like it!

Also I was thinking about doing a sequel to this, perhaps a couple of chapters nothing too long, about "life after" particularly for Ziva. She's an incredibly strong character but I think maybe it's time to talk things out?

Think it's a good idea? Or do you think I should just stop? Please let me know! Thank you!

**Dear Ziva...Part 9**

Gibbs was fuming, McGee was panicked but not as much as Abby while Tony sat in the corner lost somewhere far away. He was being overwhelmed by a cocktail of feelings, guilt, panic, fear.

"Tony!" Gibbs yelled across the room, waking him up. "When did she disappear?" he demanded.

"The same time as you called, I went to answer, I turned around, and by the time I'd turned back she'd gone." He responded avoiding eye contact with Gibbs.

"McGee, trace her phone." Gibbs ordered. Beau was pacing. "What?" Gibbs barked at her, making her jump out of her skin.

"Time...we don't have long...killers like this...they...usually...kill...within a few hours..." she said looking at anything but Gibbs. While Beau was explaining this McGee placed a photo of the man they were looking for, James Roberts. "It's about control to him; he doesn't have it in his everyday life, so he takes opportunities like these…."

"Well then all of you do something to find Ziva!"

" Boss, I've managed to get a trace on her phone, she's in Westhill Woods…." McGee scribbled the address down and handed it to Gibbs.

"Grab your gear!" Gibbs yelled, he wasn't going to lose Ziva. He wasn't ready to lose her.

Beau glanced at McGee, taking his arm in her hands. "I'm coming with you….I can help…I understand him…" she muttered. He looked worried but knew he wouldn't be able to stop her, he nodded silently.

They pulled up but a small wooden lodge where a truck was parked outside. Beau knew he was doing to slip up and he had done. She thought to herself of ways she could stop them shooting James. In her years of studying case files of psychopaths who'd rampaged and massacred she never once believed they should be killed. As a psychologist she didn't believe people were born evil, but she knew that to the team revenge was an overwhelming feeling. Gibbs busted the door down and they stood with their guns. Beau had placed herself behind McGee waiting for the right moment to move.

Inside James had tied Ziva to a chair and was holding a gun to her head. "You take one step towards me and I will shoot her!" he yelled warningly. The team held their ground. Ziva looked at them her eyes wide with fear, tears streaming down her face. She looked pleadingly at Gibbs. Tony could feel his heart in his throat, he'd only seen Ziva like this once, in Somalia. He looked at Gibbs to see if he could shoot, he had a clear shot and all he wanted to do was take him down.

"You don't want to do this James, you love her." Beau stepped out from behind McGee. Gibbs flashed her a look that she choose to ignore.

"If I let Ziva go she'll run away, like _her_." he spat her at them.

"Did she leave you? You tried, tried but she wouldn't stay...you loved her too?" Beau continued hoping that somewhere along the line she'd hit a nerve.

"He took her away from me!" he yelled, tightening his grip on Ziva's shoulder.

"And you were hurt, and you felt helpless didn't you?" He nodded in response, inhaling deeply to stop from sobbing. "Think about how Ziva feels James...do you want to go through that? Let Ziva go James, do you want her to be trapped, the way you are?" she asked him, his eyes softened all of a sudden. He ran his fingers through Ziva's hair.

"No..no i don't."

"Do you really love her?" she asked again.

"Yes." he continued watching Ziva.

"Then let her go...James...you don't want to hurt her do you? Let her go." Beau pleaded with him.

He kissed Ziva on the neck while untying Ziva's hands. He hadn't expected what was about to happen next. Ziva with all the force she should mutter elbowed him in the stomach. James lurched backwards. The team moved in surrounding him. He held the gun in his hand to his head. Gibbs fired one shot that hit James in the heart. Blood slowly made its way to his shirt as he fell to his knees. Tony wrapped his jacket around Ziva's shoulder to stop her shivering. He pulled her in and wrapped his arms around her, ignoring any signs of resistance she showed.

"There was no way I was going to let that Bastard take the easy way out." Gibbs muttered, for the first time it was the team that were speechless.


	10. Chapter 10

All I can is thank you to every single one of you that reads/reviews. I'm sorry this is going to be short (and hopefully sweet!) because it's late(ish) on a Wednesday night and I have to get up rather early! This is basically all Tiva!

So thanks again and I hope you enjoy this

**Dear Ziva...Part 10 **

Tony had pulled Ziva so close to him that she could smell his cologne, and feel the scratching material of his jacket on her cheek.

"We should take you to the hospital, to get checked out." Tony muttered, the team all nodded in agreement watching Ziva as if she were a young child. Her hair fell around her in a tangled mess and her eyes were wide and red. She thought about telling them what he'd done to her but something stopped her.

"I'm fine." She mumbled, not even believing it herself.

"You're not, you're going whether you like it or not." Tony said sternly, he opened the door to his car, waiting for Ziva to climb in. She obeyed her eyes firmly glued to the floor. "I'll take her boss." Gibbs nodded.

The drive to the hospital was a silent one. Ziva continued to stare at her feet, not wanting to meet Tony's eyes. Every time she closed her eyes she could imagine him, on her, all over her. She could see his eyes intensely watching her. Every time she shut her eyes she felt sick to her stomach.

Tony carefully parked and gave her a weary smile; there was something wrong he could sense it. They walked together for the first time Ziva seemed small, tired, all of the things she wasn't. It was as if the fire had burnt out. The hospital was clinical; the smell of disinfectant was overwhelming. He thought about Jeanne for a moment, it feels as if all of that happened in another life. He waited outside Ziva's room until the doctor finally told him he could go in.

Ziva was sat on the bed, her feet dangling off the end and she watched her feet while swinging them back and forth. A nurse was packing up a rape kit; Tony's heart began to sink. The bastard hadn't. He suddenly saw red. Ziva glanced up at him, tears streaming from her eyes. He had. Tony stepped towards her taking her hands in his own. Her hands looked tiny and their finger intertwined, he pulled her into an embrace, not knowing what to say. He could feel her flinch as he touched her only making in pull her close "it's okay" he muttered into her ear. She attempted to pull away and he eventually let her. She rubbed her eyes and looked up.

"I can go home they said." She told him.

"Come stay with me. You can have the bed." He joked in the hope to get a smile, she nodded. Standing up letting Tony pull her in again, his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

Tony's apartment was surprisingly clean, he showed Ziva around to make her feel more at home. She had a shower and appeared in Tony's bedroom with a towel wrapped around herself.

"I was just changing the sheets for you. I'll sleep on the sofa, just outside. If you need anything just shout." He told her, smiling briefly before walking out the room. She pulled on one of Tony's shirts and climbed into the bed. The fresh linen felt good, she sunk into the covers. But her eyes would not allow sleep; all she could think of was him.

Tony appeared at the door in nothing but his boxers but neither one of them cared. Tony slid under the covers pulling Ziva as close as he could in attempts to stop her shaking. He could smell shampoo and soap. He wanted to ask her about what happened but he knew it was too soon. He just held her. Her tears on his skin her hair tangled in his finger tips.


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you all for reading!

I think this will be the last Chapter for Dear Ziva, will start the sequel soon, I think. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the characters

**Dear Ziva...Part 11**

When Tony woke up Ziva had already climbed out of bed. He looked around for her, his eyes slowing adjusting to the light. Ziva was sitting on the sofa with a steaming mug in her hand, resting her chin on her knees. Tony sat down, taking the moment to talk to her about what happened.

"What did he do to you Ziva?" he said slowly. His eyes looked tired and worried she noted. She pulled her legs even closer to her.

"I don't want to talk about it Tony." She muttered in response taking a sip from her mug. Something sparked off inside of him, anger, or frustration perhaps. Ziva never wanted to talk. But there was so much hurt there...so much to talk about.

"I'll call Gibbs, get you the day off, you can stay here if you want." He said standing up not meeting eyes with her.

"Tony I'm coming with you." She responded standing up. He looked down at her, waiting to see some sort of crack but there wasn't. Her dark eyes were firmly set on the ground.

"Ziva, please, just talk to me...let me in. Help me understand." He put his hands firmly on her shoulders, still nothing but a blank expression was looked back at him. Her lips moved slowly but only a whisper came out.

"I'm sorry..." she mumbled pulling herself out of Tony's grip avoiding his eye and hurt expression.

The office was surprisingly quiet, as no one knew what to say, no new cases had appeared and paper work was the order of the day. Tony sat at his desk watching Ziva from above his computer screen. She was slowly and methodically getting on with what work had been placed in front of her. Gibbs had told her to go home but she had stubbornly refused to leave. Tony had watched her all day and knew that slowly things were becoming reality in her mind. He had considered telling Gibbs but he knew that Ziva would kill him. She stood up and walked slowly away from her desk. Tony glanced around, McGee was engrossed in something and Gibbs was nowhere to be seen, taking his chance he followed her in to the woman's restroom. Ziva's hand firmly gripped the sides of the sink. Tony stood for a moment in silence not knowing whether to approach her or not. Eventually she looked up at him her eyes red rimmed.

"What do you want Tony? Do you want me to tell you every detail of what he did? Of how much it hurt?" she turned on her heels and looked at him fiercely, and for the first time in the last 48 hours he saw the Ziva he knew.

"No, Ziva... I just want to know you're okay..." he responded softly, moving closer to her. He was inches away from her; she flinched finding she could move further away from him. He reached out placing his hand on her jaw stroking her cheek with his thumb. Her skin was smooth under his rough finger tips. Their eyes meet, and he's pressing her to tell him the truth.

"I'm not okay...every time I close my eyes I can see him. I can feel him, and it makes me sick." She says, not really cracking, her voice coming from a dry throat. Tony didn't move and watched her sympathetically.

"You need to tell Gibbs." He said, knowing it was probably the last thing she wanted to do.

"I know. And I will..."

"Good." He finally stepped away from her feeling her squirm. He gave her a smile, turned and walked away. Ziva stood in the same spot without moving for a few moments.

She walked towards Gibbs's desk she just wanted this conversation to be over.

"Gibbs, I wish to speak to you." He looked up at her, nodded getting up. He began walking without indicating for her to follow. But after all of this time Ziva didn't need to be told she followed him, flashing Tony a glance in the process.

They got into the lift, waiting for the doors to close, they finally did and there was slight movement, as they lift began dropping them to lower floors. Gibbs flicked the switch and looked at Ziva, waiting for her to begin talking.

"He raped me. I'm fine, I just thought I should tell you." She said bluntly not knowing what else to do.

"I see. Perhaps you should take some time off. I don't need to see you tomorrow." He flicked the switch and the lift moved up wards. Ziva sighed knowing there was no point arguing with him. She went back to her desk, picked up her coat and bag. As she turned to leave Tony's hand was clinging to her arm.

"What?" she snapped turning to face him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes! Tony for the millionth time, I'm fine! I'll see you later." She said the last sentence softly, realising that he was just being concerned. "Bye, Tony." He nodded finally letting go of her arm.

She drove to a part of town she hardly ever frequented, found a bar, a place she didn't have to worry about running into someone she knew. She settled on a stool in a shadowed spot, took in the musty smell and the dim lights she ordered a mojito.


End file.
